Abstract"Our
Apples" is the most authoritative illustrated book of apple
varieties yet produced. It describes 254 apple
varieties grown in Eastern and Central Canada. It also gives
a list of alternate names which have been used to describe
these varieties over time. The book will prove useful to
those involved in apple growing and culture and to apple
breeders who need regional information to help in the
selection of breeding parents.
The presence of more than 400 high quality images of fruits,
flowers and leaves along with a detailed written description
of each variety makes this book a useful tool for
identifying apple cultivars. Symbols have been added to
quickly distinguish cultivars with specific characteristics
such as winter hardiness, apple scab resistance, McIntosh
type fruit, and usefulness as rootstocks or ornamentals.
Varieties which can be used to make juice or cider, and
those useful for processing have also been identified by a
symbol.
Information on over 1400 apple cultivars can be obtained
from Pedigree, A Genetic Resource Inventory System. This
computer program was developed to trace characteristics,
view images and draw pedigrees of 37 different types of
horticultural fruit crops. Additional information is
available athttp://cyberfruit.info.

Introduction

In 1995/1996, we had the
opportunity to conduct a survey with the Quebec Apple
Growers Federation to identify the cultural,
environmental and/or cultivar/rootstock combinations
which were responsible for apple tree mortality during
the very cold winter of 1993/1994. While collecting this
data, we were quite surprised to see the diversity of
cultivars and rootstocks growing in the 330 apple
orchards that we visited. We observed more than
125 different apple varieties being grown in these
orchards. At the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
station in Frelighsburg, we had more than 300 cultivars
which had been planted by Drs. G. Rousselle and R.
Granger to use as parents in an apple breeding program.
Most of the varieties described in this book were either
evaluated at our station in Frelighsburg or examined in
one or more of the Quebec orchards in which the winter
injury study was performed. A complete copy of the above
winter injury study is available athttp://cyberfruit.info.

It took four years to collect the regional data and
prepare the image archive to complete this publication.
Most of the images were taken in Quebec during the
months of August to October. The fruit were not polished
before taking the pictures except for the cut fruit,
calyx and stem end view for which a polished apple
(bloom removed) was used. Variations in shape, size and
color of individual apples are to be expected since
these characteristics depend on many factors such as the
amount of pruning, the type of training system used, the
use of chemicals such as plant growth regulators, and
many other cultural practices. The information in this
book and information on over 1400 apple genotypes is
available on CD (pedigree). A demo version of the
Pedigree CD can be downloaded from http://cyberfruit.info.The apple varieties described in
Our Apples are remarkably diverse in terms of color,
taste, storage capabilities, shape, end use, and disease
resistance. We hope that this information will encourage
the reader to try new and old varieties alike. The
choice will ultimately depend on the climatic region
where the tree is to be grown and on other factors such
as disease resistance, ease of cultivation, and end use.

Raymond
L. Granger, B.A., L.S.A., Ph.D. is a retired
Research Scientist who devoted 32 years of his life
researching tree fruit physiology, genetics and
general pomology. Dr. Granger obtained a Bachelor of
Arts degree from the University of Sherbrooke in
1958 and a License degree in Agriculture from the
University of Montreal in 1962. He then obtained a
master degree in Pomology from Cornell University in
1964 and a Ph.D. from McGill University in 1979. He
has published 51 scientific papers and over 300
other types of publications relating to his work. He
developed a propagation technique which was included
in a textbook entitled 'Plant Propagation' by H.T.
Hartman and D.E. Kester. In 1980, he chaired the
Montreal International Symposium on Tree Fruit
Culture which attracted the participation of several
world renowned pomologists, tree fruit breeders and
physiologists. His main contributions to the tree
fruit industry in Quebec are as follows: he
introduced five new apple cultivars; - he introduced
several size controlling rootstocks for Quebec; - he
initiated the dwarf apple tree culture in Quebec; -
he contributed to the introduction of a new
mechanical picking and pruning aid, a new fertilizer
applicator for high density orchards and a new
minichamber as a research tool in the controlled
atmosphere (CA) storage of apple; - he developed two
new apple training systems; - he elaborated new
cultural practices involving fertilization, the use
of growth regulators and soil management (mycorrhizal
and herbicidal) in high density orchards. Dr.
Granger conducted research on the Spartan breakdown
of apple in British Columbia during 1974 and 1995.
He chaired the A.S.H.S. (American Society for
Horticultural Science) meeting in Montreal in 1995.
Although he retired from AAFC in September 1995, he
is still an active member of the A.S.H.S. and is
currently Vice-President of the American Pomological
Society.

Pierre Phillion

Pierre
Philion is the youngest in a family of 8 children.
Born in Hemmingford in 1939, he lived on the
family-owned farm where he started working at a very
young age. Fascinated by agriculture, he studied at
Oka College (Université de Montréal) where he
graduated in 1962 in agricultural sciences. He
joined the 'Ordre des Agronomes' upon graduation.
His affinity towards newer methods of apple
production was evident even at this time since his
final year project at school was on the use of dwarf
apple trees in commercial orchards. He acquired his
family's ancestral farm the year of his graduation
being the fourth generation of apple producers to be
working this land. In 1965, he married Lise
Saillant and they had two children together, both of
which are active in agriculture. After a brief stint
as an agronomist in vegetable production at the
David Lord Canning Company and 2 years as a plant
inspector for Agriculture Canada, Mr. Philion joined
the Ministère de l'Agriculture du Québec as a
specialist in fruit culture. He worked at this
position from 1967 to 1996. Mr. Philion is best
known both locally and abroad for his work as an
agriculture consultant. His training sessions on
apple trees and the numerous pesticide trials
conducted on his farm made him very popular with
Quebec apple growers. He started the 'Association
des Arboriculteurs Fruitiers du Quebec' and the
technical bulletin 'Le Cageot'. He was instrumental
in promoting the change from the use of standard to
dwarfing rootstocks which resulted in the
transformation of the Quebec apple industry. He is
well known outside of Quebec. He has been invited
to speak in many Canadian provinces and American
states where apple production is important. He also
visited France in 1972 and 1982 and was invited to
speak in Korea (1983) and the Ukraine (1991).
He was the first Quebec-born person to hold the
position of Director of the International Dwarf
Fruit Tree Association. In 1982 and 1992, Mr.
Philion presided over the meetings of this
association held in Quebec. Although Mr. Philion is
retired from the Ministère, he is still very much
involved in his two favorite activities: his apple
orchard and … golf!

Technical assistants

Yvon GroleauWe
are thankful for the technical assistance provided
by Mr. Yvon Groleau in the preparation of the items
for photography and in the collection of data. Yvon
Groleau obtained a technologist diploma in fruit and
vegetable horticulture from the Institut de
Technologie Agricole in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec in
1974. From 1974 to 1981, he worked as a technician
in tobacco physiology. He is presently employed at
the AAFC station in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu as a
technician specializing in the genetics and
physiology of apple and strawberry crops.

Bertrand ThériaultVerification
and identification of the images and data entry was
done by Mr. Bertrand Thériault. Mr. Thériault
obtained a technologist diploma from the Institut de
Technologie Agricole at La Pocatière, Quebec in
1988. He obtained a College Diploma in Pure
Sciences in 1992 and a Certificate in administration
in 1993. He worked for 3 years as a sales
representative in the flour trade. He has been a
research assistant at the AAFC Center at St-Jean-sur-Richelieu
since 1993 specializing in the genetics and
physiology of strawberry crops.

Shapour KhanizadehLast
but not least, we are grateful to Mr. Shapour
Khanizadeh for the hand-painted diagrams of the
fruit cross section and shapes, tree shapes and
flowers shown at the beginning of this book. Shapour
is a designer and artist who prepares custom-made
diagrams, paintings and portraits to be used in
pamphlets, brochures, advertising materials, etc.
His gallery is located at 470 Beaurepaire Dr.,
Beaconsfield, Quebec, H9W 3C5.